


Stark Family Moments

by Ana (Anafandom)



Series: Second Chances [7]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-01-15 20:09:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12327996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anafandom/pseuds/Ana
Summary: Random bits of Stark family interactions.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been struggling with writer's block lately. I have tons of ideas, but can't actually seem to get any of them done. So this is a short little silly thing that I managed to write. Hopefully I'll get going again soon.
> 
> Inspired by [this comment thread](https://archiveofourown.org/comments/127329585%0A).

Tony walked into his parents’ apartment without really looking where he was going, attention mostly on his phone as he sorted out some problems with the new StarkPad interface. He heard a pained noise and quickened his step into the living room, immediately worried that something was wrong.

“Mom, dad–” He stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of his parents making out on the couch like teenagers. “Oh, my god!” He turned away as fast as he could, but he was still fairly sure he saw his father’s hand up his mom’s skirt and… dear god, he did _not_ need to see that. “Jesus, guys!”

“Damn it, Tony, how about knocking?” Howard hissed.

Tony walked all the way into the kitchen and got a glass of water – too bad there was no beer – to try and get the image out of his mind. It didn’t help.

“How was I supposed to know you’d be… doing that?” he said weakly.

“Well, it’s only polite, honey,” his mom said, coming into the kitchen. Her blouse was all wrinkled and her hair messed up and Tony felt himself burn with embarrassment. He wasn’t the type to blush, usually, but then, he’d never caught his parents… making out… before. He didn’t even know they did that anymore. (Or ever, come to think of it. Well, obviously they had once, or he wouldn’t have been born, but Tony couldn’t recall seeing his parents being touchy-feely with each other back in the day. Maybe they’d just been discreet about it.)

“I will be very sure to do so next time, rest assured.” He did not need to see that – or think about it – again. Howard’s clothes were just as rumpled, and he had an irritated air as he came over. Tony felt a bit bad for interrupting, but mostly he was just mortified. “Sorry,” he said, not wanting to dwell on their appearance much longer.

“You’d better,” Howard muttered under his breath, still clearly annoyed. Well, no one liked blue balls, Tony thought, then winced at himself. _Do not go there, Tony_.

“Did you want something, honey?” Maria asked, as ever more composed (and polite), casually smoothing out her hair and clothes, as if she hadn’t just been caught in a compromising position. _Damn it brain, stop it!_

“I was going to ask if you wanted to get dinner.” Of course he now realized they probably didn’t; they seemed to have other plans, after all. “But we can leave it for another day, obviously. I mean, since you’re… busy.” _Oh, god, just shut up_. He grimaced at himself and prepared to get the hell out of dodge before he made things worse. “So I’ll just be going then, and leave you to it…” _Nope, not working_.

“Oh, for god’s sake, Tony, I had no idea you’d be such a prude.”

Tony halted at those words, trying to process them. No one had _ever_ accused Tony Stark of being a prude. That was… completely ludicrous. “I am not a prude!” Those sex tapes were certainly proof enough of that, though he probably shouldn’t mention that to his parents. (He was pretty sure his parents didn’t want to think about his sex life any more than he did about theirs.)

“Then stop acting like you don’t know people have sex.”

“But you’re old!” Tony said, and immediately cringed at himself.

Howard gave him an unimpressed look. “You do realize I was older then you are now when you were born, right?”

Tony blinked. He knew that, of course, but he had not actually thought about what that meant. Right. Well, good for Howard, then. (And Maria, he supposed.) In any case, this was a conversation Tony could do without.

“Okay, okay. I’m cool. I’m a cool guy, everybody knows that. So… hmm…”

“I think we should do dinner tomorrow, darling.”

“Right, yes. Tomorrow is good.”

His mother smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek. (Tony tried not to imagine what else she might be kissing later. _Damn it_.) His dad just huffed at him.

“Knock, next time.”

“Yes, absolutely. I will certainly do that. No doubt whatsoever.” There was a slightly awkward pause. “So, you guys have a nice evening.”

Howard smirked, the bastard. “I’m sure we will.”

Right. Time to go.

Tony didn’t run away because that was beneath his dignity as a grown man and a superhero; he made a strategic retreat to give his parents some privacy (all the while firmly _not_ thinking what they needed privacy for).

Once in the elevator, Tony rubbed his hands over his face and sighed. “Friday,” he said.

“Yes, Boss?”

“If I forget, please remind me to knock next time, yes?”

“Sure thing, Boss.” Tony wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or if there was actually a note of laughter in his girl’s voice.


	2. Chapter 2

“I don’t think this a very good idea.”

“Oh, come on.”

“It’s not a toy, you know.”

“Yes, I know that. Come on, Tony, do your old man a favor.”

It was a rather surreal situation, Tony thought, looking at his father doing his best puppy eyes.

“Mom is gonna have both our hides for this, you know,” he said, because he couldn’t really think of anything else.

“Well, she doesn’t really need to know, does she?” Howard smirked.

All his life Tony had been told how much like his father he was, and all his life he’d struggled with what that meant. Was it meant as a compliment, because his father was a smart, accomplished man? Was it meant in a derogatory way, since his father was also known to be ruthless and uncaring? Was it simply a comment on their shared abilities and appearance? Right now, however, Tony saw it for what it really was for maybe the first time in his life: they had the same curious, slightly reckless drive, the same mischievous impulse to be daring, the same kinda devil-may-care charm.

Tony grinned. “All right, dad, let’s do it.”

Their excited and eager expressions were probably mirror images of each other as they cleared a space in the lab, conspirator smiles firmly in place.

“All right, stand over here and spread your arms.”

Howard did as he was told and the assembly bots began to screw the suit onto him. It wasn’t going to be a perfect fit, but their body measurements were similar enough for it to work.

“Holy fuck!” Howard said, sounding like a kid at Christmas as the suit finished assembling and the faceplate came down. “Jesus, how do you see anything in this?”

Tony chuckled. “Friday, open it.” Friday obediently opened the faceplate again. “Better?”

Howard took a couple of steps forward, rather ungracefully, and grinned. “This is amazing, Tony! But seriously, how do you see anything with the helmet on?”

“It’s an interface, it just takes some getting used to. Friday, disable all weapons, including the repulsors.”

“I’m not gonna use them!”

“I know. It’s just a precaution. Don’t want any accidents.” He didn’t bother to mention all the ‘accidents’ Tony had had over the years testing out new suits and new features. There was a reason he was always alone in the lab, and it wasn’t because he was anti-social. At least, not always.

“Okay, okay. So, how do I fly?”

“Whoa, easy there, dad. Let’s try walking around first, yeah?”

Howard gave him a ‘where’s the fun in that’ look that Tony found absurdly funny. God, all those years he’d spent being at odds with the man, when they could have been laughing their asses off together doing stupid reckless things (and probably driving mom and Jarvis up the walls)…

Tony watched as his father walked around carefully, overbalancing a few times and crashing into the tables, until he seemed to get the hang of it. Dum-E hovered close by, trusty fire-extinguisher in ‘hand’, eager to use it whether or not anything actually caught fire.

“Okay, I think I’ve got it,” Howard said.

“All right. Friday, fire up the helmet display.”

The faceplate came down again and Tony waited for his father to adjust to the interface.

“This is really complicated. There’s a lot of stuff at the same time. I don’t even know where to look.”

Tony had once overheard a SHIELD agent telling another one that Iron Man should have a different pilot, as if it was a simple matter of sticking some random person into the suit. No one but him would be able to use the suit the way he did, and very few people seemed to understand that. Rhodey’s suit was a lot less complex and it had still taken him a while to fully acquaint himself with it. The interface on Iron Man was indeed intricate, with multiple pieces of information and readings at any given time, and Tony could read it all easily and quickly. Not only because he’d designed it, and therefore knew the system inside out, but mostly because his brain was actually capable of processing all that information at once.

It had taken him a long time, as a child, to realize that most people couldn’t do what he did, that the stuff Tony found so easy and simple were in fact things normal people took time to grasp. And it wasn’t even that other people were dumb, exactly, but that Tony was _way_ ahead of everyone else – that _he_ was the weird one, not everybody else. It had taken him even longer to learn how to, when required, match his speed to other people’s – or, at least, slow down enough to be understood. More often than not it ended up being more trouble than it was worth, but occasionally it was necessary.

His father, thankfully, was smart enough that Tony didn’t need to slow down too much as he explained the various readouts and how to manage them.

“Right. I got it, I think. Now, how do I fly?”

“Dad…”

“What? It’s safe, isn’t it? You and Rhodes do it all the time.” It sounded like a whine. Did Tony sound like that? Tony was starting to get a new appreciation for what Pepper and Rhodey had put up with all these years.

“It’s mostly safe. But only if you know what you’re doing. And let’s not forget you’re not as young as you used to be, okay?”And who was supposed to be the parent here, anyway?

“I’m not at death’s door yet, Tony.” His face was still covered by the mask, but Tony would swear that he could hear Howard rolling his eyes behind it. “Come on…”

Was this how Pepper and Rhodey felt? Man, he owed them a few million apologies.

“Okay, fine. Let’s start small, all right? Friday, repulsors at one percent.”

“One percent? Come on, Tony!”

“I tried 10 percent the first time and almost broke my neck smashing into the wall. Trust me, one percent is fine.” Really, it was kind of a miracle he hadn’t killed himself with those early tests. In retrospect, and with a bit less desperation clouding his thoughts, he could admit how utterly insane he’s been through most of that. “So, keep your legs locked together and your hands down for stability. Don’t try anything fancy; just hover a bit, all right?”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.”

“Fri, keep an eye on his vitals, okay?”

“Sure thing, Boss.”

“Okay, ready? Go.”

The boot repulsors lit up and the suit lifted slightly off the ground. Howard let out an excited hoot and almost toppled over before managing to right himself again. The hand repulsors came on line next, providing a bit more stability and maneuverability.

“All right, dad?” Tony asked. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little bit nervous.

“Yeah.”

Slowly, Howard moved a bit around the lab, still only a couple of feet off the floor, carefully keeping his balance. Since things seemed to be going well, Tony relaxed a bit, though he was still paying close attention.

“This is awesome, Tony,” Howard said and Tony could hear the smile in his voice. “Can I go higher?”

“Friday, power to three percent. Take it slowly, dad.”

The suit rose further, maintaining position at about head level. Dum-E kept his fire extinguisher ready while U took his old camerabot duties, tracking the suit’s movements.

Tony couldn’t help remember his first attempt at flight, the exhilaration he’d felt when he had finally gotten control of it, the joy of soaring (rather imprudently as it turned out) through the sky, Jarvis’s quietly concerned voice in his ear. Got, he missed Jarvis. Friday was great and he loved her, but he still missed his friend and co-pilot. Maybe he should take another crack at getting him back. He’d already tried it a bunch of times with no success, getting more discouraged with each failed attempt. The code was still sorta there, though unresponsive for some reason. It really made no sense, but then, nothing about Ultron had made any sense. Damn alien stone messing up all the laws of the universe.

Alien stone... Wait a minute... The soul stone, the one that could resurrect the dead. Maybe that could help. It was right here in the tower, locked safely in the vault. If he could just get it to jump-start Jarvis’ code again, he might be able to fix the rest of the damage.

So consumed with this sudden bout of inspiration, Tony didn’t notice the suit going by a bit faster than advisable until it crashed into the wall.

“Shit! Dad, are you okay?” He hurried over and helped get Howard back on his feet.

“I’m fine, Tony. Just a slight miscalculation.” The faceplate came up again, allowing Tony to see his father’s satisfied grin. “It’s a bit harder than it looks, I guess.”

“I did tell you that.”

Howard rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, smart-ass. Come on, I’m ready to go again.”

The second go-round went more smoothly than the first. In the back of his mind, however, Tony was still thinking about Jarvis, even as he cheered his father on.

“I think I’m getting the hang of this,” Howard said, just before he nearly fell over one of the tables.

Tony shook his head with a sigh, putting thoughts of Jarvis aside for the moment to focus on Howard’s progress. “You’re leaning forward too much, dad, that’s why you keep overbalancing. You need to keep your body straight.”

“Well, that’s what I’m trying to do!” was the surly reply.

A few more tries later, Howard was doing a lot better, so they increased the power a little bit more. Now it could actually be called flying.

“Ha! I’m fucking flying!”

“Slow down, dad.” But Howard didn’t listen, too caught up in the thrill of it. Again, Tony found himself appreciating Rhodey and Pepper’s patience like never before. “Dad, come on. Slow down!”

“Stop worrying so much, Tony, I got this.”

He zoomed by, making a tight circle and coming back, miraculously not bumping into anything. _Huh._ _Nice going, dad_. Howard then shot upwards way too fast and narrowly avoided a collision with the ceiling, diving back down with a happy howl. Tony winced.

“What on Earth is going on here?”

Tony whirled around to see his mother standing there, hands on her hips and a disapproving look on her face. _Oh uh, we’re in trouble_.

For his part, Howard tried for a smooth landing and missed by a mile, crashing back to the ground gracelessly and rolling over until he came to rest in a heap on the far wall. Shit.

“Dad!”

The suit opened up and Howard climbed out. Tony gave him a hand up and waited for him to get his feet firmly under him again.

“Well, it sure is harder than flying a plane.” Howard’s smile died down when he saw Maria’s expression, though. “Hi, honey,” he said, in the same tone of voice Tony had used countless times on Pepper when she caught him doing something stupid – that innocent flirty ‘nothing to see here’ tone. Yep, Tony was his father’s son all right…

Maria glared at them. “Have you two lost your minds? What are you doing? Howard, you could have gotten hurt!”

“Mom, it’s all right. It’s safe, really.” Tony realized it was a mistake to open his mouth when Maria turned her frown on him, making him feel like a misbehaving kid again.

“Safe? Safe?!” Her voice rose slightly as she gestured to the suit lying discarded. “Your father has just smashed into the wall. How is that safe?”

“The suit is designed to minimize impact to the… uhm… pilot.” Which was mostly him. He was going to say he’d crashed plenty of times with hardly a scratch then thought better of it. It would probably not really help his case right now. “Friday and I were monitoring everything.”

“Yeah, Maria,” Howard said, drawing her attention back to him. “We know what we’re doing. You worry too much.” He gave her his most charming smile – which Tony had to admit was a very good one.

Maria threw her hands in the air. “Fine. You two carry on then. But don’t come crying to me with broken bones later.” She turned and marched out, muttering under her breath about boys and toys.

As soon as she was gone, Tony and Howard looked at each other and broke out laughing like a couple of lunatics. God, it was good to have his parents back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm planning to bring Jarvis back. It's all about Tony being happy, right? He needs Jarvis for that. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I'm not completely happy with this chapter, but I've been struggling with it for ages and I just want to get it over with, so here it is. Hope you like it anyway.
> 
> Takes place after Tears in Heaven (Jarvis lives!).

“So, have you guys decided where you’re going?” Tony asked his parents as they finished breakfast.

They had been planning a vacation for quite a while now, considering how their last one had ended (or rather, how it hadn’t even begun). First they’d needed to get a bit more acclimated to the ‘future’, then they’d needed to sort out their new public identities, courtesy of the Accords Panel. Just when it had all been arranged, the ExVengers had been caught, forcing them to postpone their plans. Well, they could have left before the trials, or even during them, but Tony doubted that thought had crossed their minds. It had now been a couple of months since Steve and the others had been convicted and sent to their new homes for the next several years, however, so they’d begun talking about it again.

“We have a few possibilities, but haven’t made up our minds yet,” his father replied.

“We’d rather not go too far away,” his mom added.

Tony was glad to hear that. Although he had encouraged his parents to explore their new world (and he was happy they seemed intent on rekindling their relationship as well, though he did not need to _see_ it, thank you very much), he would certainly fell much more at ease if they weren’t half-way around the world. It was a bit paranoid of him, but he couldn’t seem to shake the felling that something terrible would happen if he left his parents out of his sight for long. They had, for the most part, remained in the Tower (venturing into the streets of New York for short trips occasionally), where Friday could keep an eye on them and alert him instantly if there were any problems. There had been none so far, apart from nightmares and a few arguments.

“It’s a shame that the LA house is gone,” Howard said.

That had been their original destination, back when they’d left that fateful day. Tony had sold that house nearly 20 years ago. Unlike the New York mansion, he’d had no particular emotional connection to it. If goddammed Killian hadn’t blown up his Malibu house, Tony could have offered that as a substitute.

He had, of course, considered rebuilding it afterwards, but eventually decided against it and moved back to New York. Looking back on it now, knowing how things had turned out, perhaps he should have gone for it after all. Avengers Tower had certainly not been what he’d wanted – what he’d hoped.

“There are plenty of other properties you guys can use if you want.”

Maria shook her head. “I think I’d rather stay at a hotel. It’s simpler that way. We wouldn’t have to worry about anything.”

“Well, then all you have to do is pick a place.” Money was, as ever for them, not an issue. Once their new identities had been created, Tony had set up generous bank accounts for both of them – giving back some of the money that had been theirs in the first place. “What sort of things would you like to do on vacation?”

“Relax, mainly. Maybe see a play or a concert. Go to a nice restaurant, that kind of thing.”

“Well, most big cities in the country would have that.”

“Would you like some assistance, Mrs Stark?” Friday asked. “I can compile a list based on your interests.”

“Yes, that would be very helpful, Friday. Thank you.” Maria smiled at the ceiling since she didn’t know where the cameras were. It always warmed Tony that his parents treated his AI kids as real people. They were still slightly hesitant with Jarvis (probably because of the reminder of human Jarvis), but Friday and the bots got plenty of attention from them.

“How long do you plan on being gone?”

“I don’t know. A few days, I guess. What do you think, Maria?”

“I think a few days would be fine, four or five at the most.”

Though she didn’t say it, Tony figured his parents wouldn’t be entirely comfortable being on their own for too long just yet. They had adjusted as well as could be expected to the extraordinary circumstances they found themselves in, but it didn’t mean there weren’t problems. There were still occasional nightmares about their death, a lot of grief over everything they’d lost and some general confusion about the present. Therapy was helping, they said, but Tony was well aware that such trauma never really disappeared, one just learned to deal with it.

“Sir? You have a call from Ms Potts.”

“Ok, J, thanks.” Tony still smiled every time Jarvis spoke to him these days, glad to have his friend back. “I’m gonna go, guys, let me know what you decide, ok?”

“Sure, honey.”

Tony fished his phone out of his pocket to talk to Pepper. He waved good bye to his parents and entered the elevator to go back to the penthouse.

A few days later, his parents had finally decided on a destination and had arranged a hotel, with Friday’s help. Howard asked if they could use Tony’s private jet because he wanted to see what planes in the future were like, to which Tony had no objection.

The day they were set to depart, Tony drove them to the hangar himself after everyone else at the Tower had said their good-byes. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit scared, but he did his best to ignore it. His parents couldn’t stay cooped up in the Tower forever; he would just have to find a way to deal with their independence and the inherent risks in leaving the safety of home.

Tony had made sure to get his regular pilot, who had been with the company for over fifteen years, to fly the plane. If the man thought there was something peculiar about the couple being given access to Tony Stark’s plane, he would keep it to himself, Tony was sure.

“Have a safe trip, mom, dad,” Tony said while Frank was readying the plane.

“Thanks, honey. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“If anything happens, Friday will contact me and I can be there in less than an hour.” Thank god they weren’t going far, only to Chicago. “So keep your phones with you at all times, okay?”

“We will, don’t worry,” Howard said. He hesitated a little, then came forward and hugged Tony. “You take care, son.”

Tony returned the hug and smiled. Who would ever have thought that he and his father could be like this? “I love you guys.”

Maria gave him a hug and a kiss. “We love you too, honey. We’ll see you in a few days.”

As he watched the plane take off, Tony prayed that this vacation would go according to plan and that he’d have his parents back safe and sound.

*****

The hotel was quite nice, with a lovely view of the city. Maria took out her cell phone to text Tony that they had arrived safely and smiled to herself.

“Well, now what?” Howard asked from the bed, where he was already lying down with his shoes off.

“I’m guessing you’d like to rest a while?” Maria said with a smirk.

“I’m on old man, I need my rest,” he replied. He certainly did, considering he had been up late last night tinkering in the workshop with Tony.

“All right, old man, take a nap then, since you need it so much.” He hadn’t slept on the plane because he’d been too busy looking at the specs for the jet that Jarvis had provided, marveling, as always, at the technology of the future. Next time they went anywhere, Maria wouldn’t put it past him to want to fly the plane himself.

While Howard slept, Maria started considering dinner possibilities. Friday, ever helpful, provided a list of nearby restaurants they could try, complete with pictures and costumers’ reviews. The internet really was very practical. Once Maria had narrowed down the options to two, she turned to unpacking their bags and organizing the room to her satisfaction. Then she took a shower to freshen up and wait for Howard.

It seemed like forever since she and Howard had had a vacation together (and it really was). Back then, there had always been something keeping them from it – the company, political or social events, _work_. And Howard had mostly refused to even entertain the idea of a vacation, afraid that things would fall apart the minute his back was turned (which was not, as it turned out, an unfounded fear). Not having the company to worry about anymore had done wonders for Howard’s peace of mind, as had his improved relationship with Tony. Maria, for her part, found that she was much happier knowing that Howard and Tony weren’t at each other’s throats anymore. Her own relationship with Tony had gotten better as well (though there were still days she missed her teenage son), but for her what really made a difference was reconnecting with her husband. The last vacation they had planned (which had ended in disaster) had not really been about _them_ , not really. She was pretty sure that Howard would have worked the whole time and ignored all her attempts at relaxing (as he had ignored _her_ a lot in those days). Now, however, they were talking again, and _to_ each other rather than _at_ each other. (Or at all, really. Back then there were times when she’d gone days without _seeing_ Howard despite living in the same house.) It was something she had almost given up on, and as such was deeply grateful for now.

Howard woke up after about an hour seemingly reenergized. He showered, dressed in the clothes she had laid out for him and came to sit beside her at the table, where Maria and Friday were making plans for tomorrow.

“What are you up to?” he asked with a grin, putting a hand around her shoulder to peer at the tablet’s screen. When she turned to him, he kissed her – just a quick peck but with a promise of more in his eyes. It was nice to feel desired again, Maria thought. And it was nice to feel desire in return. Before their resurrection, it had been a long while.

“I have a couple of options for dinner.”

Friday switched the screen to show the restaurants they had selected earlier and gave Howard a brief description of each.

“This one looks good,” he pointed. “Do we need reservations?”

“I can make them for you,” Friday said. “Is one hour okay?”

“Sounds great, Friday, thank you.”

In just a few minutes they were strolling hand in hand through the streets. No one paid them any mind, they were just a regular couple going for a walk. Maria had been worried that, with the tape of their deaths shown at Rogers’s trial and the renewed public interest in Tony Stark’s parents, they would be recognized if they went out. So she had dyed her hair a darker shade and insisted on Howard doing the same (she knew he liked it, as he had never quite liked the grey). Combined with a change in clothing style, they looked different enough from the video to be unremarkable. Of course, the whole world knew they were dead (anyone with an internet connection could _see_ their last moments if they so chose), so it was unlikely that anyone would think it was actually _them_ , but it still made Maria feel better to have this ‘disguise’ and their new identities.

The restaurant was as good as advertised and they had a very pleasant meal, talking about general things that continued to pick their interest in this new time. Maria had discovered a great deal of wonderful new literature she was enjoying, and Howard was endlessly fascinated with all the technology and the way people had discovered new things. Even politics was a good topic these days as they got caught up with both the new people and the policies being currently discussed.

It might have seemed impersonal to an outsider, but Maria was thoroughly enjoying herself. In the days before, she and Howard had barely talked about anything, and after their resurrection they had talked a lot about Tony and his life, so it was nice to just talk about normal things for a while. Besides, both of them had always preferred to discuss personal things in private. And nowadays, when everyone had a camera in their pocket, it was certainly better to keep doing so.

After dinner, they walked around a bit more before returning to the hotel. While Howard was in the bathroom brushing his teeth, Maria put on her new nightgown, the one Pepper had helped her chose. It might have not been necessary, strictly speaking, but Maria felt like being sexy and playful. Enjoying their new-found closeness was the point of this vacation, after all.

“Well now,” Howard said with a rather naughty smile, “haven’t seen _this_ in a while.”

Maria laughed. “Do you like it?” She did a little twirl for him. “I’m told it’s all the rage these days.”

“Yes.” He picked up her hand and led her into a slow dance around the room. “It’d be better if we had some music,” he muttered.

Suddenly _I Only Have Eyes For You_ started playing, coming from the tablet.

Maria laughed. “Thank you, Friday.” She smiled at her husband. “Much better.”

It had been a while since they’d danced together, at least like this. There had been some instances in formal occasions they had attended, though those had been mostly for appearance’s sake, just going through the motions because it was expected of them. More and more these days Maria became aware of how far they had drifted from each other. There were so many things they had stopped doing – by the end there had been nearly nothing left of their marriage at all.

“Maria?” Howard asked.

She shook her head. It was not too late. “Sorry, I was thinking… I missed this. I missed you. Us, being together.” She hadn’t quite realized it until she suddenly had him back, and she was determined not to lose him again.

“Me too.” He sighed. “I’m sorry I was such an ass.”

“I have my share of the blame as well,” she replied. Therapy had helped her see things more clearly, and that it wouldn’t be fair to make it all Howard’s fault. It took two to make a relationship work, and she had let things go way more than she should have.

“Here’s to starting over,” he said, leaning in to kiss her.

Their love-making was particularly sweet that night, slow and full of hope for the future. They rediscovered each other with every touch and gasp, remembering all the things they liked about each other – all the things they had missed.

In the morning, Maria felt like she was walking on air. Everything seemed more beautiful and bright. She felt young, like a newlywed just discovering the joys of marriage and being together. This second chance at life was truly a gift.

They had breakfast at the hotel and then went out to explore the city in their rented car. Maria had been in Chicago before, but it had been a business trip and she hadn’t gotten the opportunity to do anything except attend meetings and social events. Although she had considered her job important – and she had been determined to do it well – somewhere along the way the joy had gone out of it and all that had been left was duty. Her entire life had felt like duty; work, going to events and smiling for the cameras and everyone watching, keeping her marriage, being a good wife and mother… She had forgotten herself in the middle of all that. She had become distanced not just from Howard (and Tony to a lesser extent as he was away at college a lot of the time), but also from herself. No real friends, no sense of purpose. Even her accomplishments had stopped mattering as they once had.

“You’re thinking a lot again,” Howard said, pulling her from her musings. She hadn’t realized they had arrived at their destination, Millennium Park.

She smiled at him with true affection. “I’m just grateful for all of this,” she told him.

“And determined not to waste it,” he added, knowing exactly what she meant. Maria was sure he had most of the same thoughts.

“Yes.”

They got out of the car and looked out into the park and the clear blue sky.

“Shall we, then?” he asked, offering his arm and gesturing to the path ahead. The future. _Their_ future. Their second chance.

She took his arm. “Let’s go.”

It was the best vacation they’d ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have one more idea for this story, so I've set the chapter count at 4. Can't say when that final chapter will come, though. I haven't have much time for writing lately, I'm afraid.
> 
> As always, thanks to everyone for your amazing support, kudos and comments.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Angshupriyasaha, who asked for Tony getting hurt and being taken care of by his parents. This is slightly different (Tony is sick, not hurt), but I hope it works anyway.

It started with an annoying cough. Tony was trying to get some work done in the workshop and he had to stop and cough every five minutes. It was a pain. That and the slight dizziness that came with the cough. Dum-E obligingly made him a smoothie, which actually helped for a little while (his bot kids were really wonderful). Then the cough came back with a vengeance.

“Boss, are you all right?” Friday asked when it looked as if Tony was done trying to expel his lungs through his mouth.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Tony replied, trying to focus back on the file in front of him – the one that seemed to be dancing in a very distracting way.

“Should I get Dr Banner?”

“What? No! There’s no need for that. I’m fine. It’s just a cough.” There was an accompanying headache now, but there was no need to alarm the kids.

“Sir, I believe it would be prudent to seek a proper medical opinion on the matter. You might be a genius, but you are not a physician,” Jarvis chimed in. Dum-E and U, who were hovering around, beeped in agreement.

“Well, Bruce isn’t a physician either, so there,” Tony said, rather smugly (and childishly).

“I’ll call Dr Strange then,” Friday fired back. “ _He_ ’s a proper MD.” 

“Oh, come on!” Tony protested. “That’s an exaggeration, guys. And I’m sure Strange has better things to do than deal with a cough. He’s a _neurosurgeon_. Also, he’s not in the doctor business anymore.”

“Then perhaps you’d care to consult Dr Abramowitz?” Jarvis said, undeterred.

“Guys! There will be no doctors!” It wasn’t that he disliked Dr Abramowitz. In fact, she was probably the best personal physician he’d ever had, he just disliked doctors (and hospitals) in general. “I’m fine! Stop fussing. Geez…”

Neither Friday nor Jarvis said anything else, so Tony mentally congratulated himself on his victory over his overprotective and over-fussy kids and went back to work.

Of course he should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. Barely thirty minutes later his mom entered the workshop.

“Hello, honey,” she said, all smiles and sharp eyes.

Tony glared in the direction of the cameras before turning to her. “Traitors,” he mumbled under his breath. “Mom! What brings you here?”

“Well, you’ve been working for hours. I though you could use a break.”

 _Yeah, right_. And because the universe occasionally conspired against him, just at that moment he had another coughing fit.

“Oh, sweetheart, that doesn’t sound good at all,” Maria said. She put a hand on his forehead as if to check for fever. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

“Mom, I don’t need to go to bed. I’m fine. It’s just a little cough.” And a headache, and a bit of dizziness too, but it was still fine. He’d had worse. “I’m sure it will be gone soon.”

Maria wasn’t having it, though. She gave him the same look she’d always had when he’d misbehaved as a child. Tony was still not quite used to seeing it now as an adult. When he didn’t move fast enough for her liking, she took matters into her own hands and began leading him out of the workshop like an unruly kid.

“Let’s go, Tony.”

“Mom!” he whined. It was rather undignified, he was sure, but he felt the needed to offer some token protest over being treated like a child. He was pushing fifty, for god’s sake.

As always, however, Maria remained utterly unimpressed, not even bothering to reply.

“Save everything, will you, J?” he said as he was ushered into the elevator.

“Of course, Sir.”

Maria didn’t let go of his arm until they were in his bedroom at the penthouse. She even went so far as to push him (gently) to sit on the bed.

“Really, mom, this is not necessary.”

“Indulge me,” she said, nudging him into taking his shoes off. “Can I make you something, honey? Some hot chocolate, maybe?”

Well, that did sound good. His throat was a little sore from all the coughing after all. “Okay. Thanks.”

She gave him a bright smile and kissed his forehead. “You just relax now and I’ll be right back.”

Now that he was actually lying down, Tony realized he was a bit tired. Everyone’s reaction was a bit over the top, but if it made him mom happy to fuss over him there would be no harm in, as she said, indulging her, would it? It was not, after all, a hardship to have his mom around taking care of him. He was still not entirely used to having people around who cared about his well-being, but he was getting there.

True to her word, Maria was soon back with the hot chocolate and a piece of toast.

“Here you go, baby.” She handed him the mug and put the plate with the toast on the nightstand, sitting next to him and smoothing his hair out of his face.

“Thanks, mom.”

“Rest for a bit, Tony. I’ll come get you when it’s time for dinner.” She waited until he nodded and took a sip of his chocolate before standing up. “Friday, keep an eye on him, will you?”

“You got it, Maria.”

Friday had really bonded with his parents, Tony thought idly, enjoying the warmth of the chocolate. She’d already dropped the formality of ‘Mr and Mrs Stark’; next she’d be calling them grandma and grandpa. That would be kind of sweet, really.

After finishing the chocolate and the toast, Tony burrowed into the covers, having decided that a little nap would not be a bad idea. Besides, he didn’t want to upset his mom.

*****

Tony woke with his mother shaking him gently.

“Whaa…?” he mumbled.

“Dinner’s ready, darling.”

“Hmmm,” was his eloquent response, which earned him a chuckle.

“Come on, baby. You can come back to bed afterwards if you want.”

Somewhat reluctantly, Tony got up and shuffled into the dining room, where his father was already sitting.

“Well, you look like crap,” Howard said in a conversational tone.

Tony glared at him and sat down. “Thanks, dad.”

Howard grinned. “Calling it like I see it, son.”

As much as Tony didn’t want to admit it, it definitely felt like he was coming down with something, so he probably did look like shit – he kinda felt like it a bit too. _Great_ , he thought. _Just what I need_. He’d always hated being sick (was there anyone who didn’t?). Despite his nap, he still felt lethargic and woozy.

He picked at his food half-heartedly, barely paying attention to the conversation going on around him.

“Tony?”

“Sorry, mom. I… What did you say?”

She shook her head. “It’s not important. You should go rest. We’ll clean up here.”

“Yeah, okay. Sorry, guys.”

“Don’t worry about it,” his dad said, waving him off.

Tony got back in bed and was asleep in seconds.

*****

The next time he woke, he was sweating like a pig and shivering. _A fever, how lovely_. With a bit of effort, he managed to get into the shower, feeling a bit more human afterwards.

“Boss? According to my readings, your temperature is still too high. Should I get Dr Banner?”

Tony checked the clock. “It’s the middle of the night, Fri, he’s sleeping. And anyway, a little fever never killed anyone.”

“That is incorrect, Sir. High fevers can, in fact, lead to death.”

“You know what I mean, Jarvis, stop being so dramatic. You two stop ganging up on me. I’m going back to sleep, all right? I’ll be fine in the morning.”

Tony didn’t feel like changing the sheets, so he just moved to a cooler patch (it was, after all, a big bed) and tried to get comfortable. The kids were no doubt conspiring against him, but he was too tired to worry about it now. As long as they didn’t wake up half the Tower to come hold his hand, he could just lie there in misery without bothering anyone.

This time he tossed and turned for a while before his body finally got with the program and agreed to cooperate with the plan of sleeping through the rest of the night.

*****

The first thing Tony noticed the next morning was that he was not, in fact, fine. He actually felt worse. _Wonderful_. So much for his optimistic prediction. The second thing he noticed was that his mom was there, staring down at him in concern.

“Morning,” he said weakly.

“Actually, honey, it’s past eleven. Still morning, but only just barely. How do you feel?”

 _Well, shit_ , he thought. “Not great,” he told her since it was useless to deny it anymore. He was definitely sick.

“Bruce is on his way to take a look at you.”

“Mom, I don’t need a doctor. It’s just the flu or something.”

“Humor me.” She reached over to feel his temperature even though Tony was sure Friday would have already given her that information.

Once she had fussed enough, Maria left to get him some water.

 _Well_ , Tony thought. _If I have to be sick, at least I get to have my mom around to make me feel better. That’s not too bad_.

Tony remembered many moments during his life when he had wished for nothing more than to have his mom to hold him and tell him everything would be fine. And all he’d had those times had been loneliness and a sense of failure. Occasionally there had also been anger. At his father, who he had believed had been responsible for the accident, and at himself for arguing with his father in the first place and thus contributing to his reckless driving. And all the while neither of them had been to blame. It had all been fucking Hydra (possibly with Stane’s help).

“Drink this, honey,” Maria said, interrupting his maudlin thoughts.

“Thanks.”

A few minutes later Bruce and Howard came into his bedroom. It was starting to feel like a party in there.

“How do you feel, Tony?” Bruce asked while his parents had a whispered conversation by the door.

“A bit feverish,” he answered honestly. Friday and Jarvis had probably tattled on him already.

“Any nausea? Shortness of breath? Pain?”

“No, no and no. It’s just the flu.”

Bruce smiled. “Yeah, probably, but it never hurts to check. Headache?”

“A little.”

Tony allowed Bruce to exam him with minimal grumbling. Once that was done and Bruce had announced Tony was not dying, needing only rest and fluids, his mom shooed everyone out. Friday promised to keep everyone updated if something changed.

He fell asleep after a while, and when he woke up he felt a bit better. Also hungry. He dragged himself to the kitchen to get a snack, taking the opportunity to open a few files to check on some of his projects’ progress.

“Tony, honey, you’re supposed to be in bed,” Maria said, coming out of the elevator with Howard.

Tony closed down the files. “I was hungry,” he replied in an embarrassingly whiny voice.

“You could have had Friday call us, darling.”

 _She did anyway_ , Tony thought sullenly. Aloud he said “I’m not a child, mom. I can feed myself.”

“I know that, baby, but you’re sick.”

“Come on, Tony,” Howard said, taking his arm to lead him back to the bedroom. “Let Maria mother you a little. She needs is,” he added in a whisper.

Tony laid on top of the covers with a sigh. Howard, to Tony’s surprise, sat next to him.

“It’s hard sometimes. To us, you grew up in the blink of an eye and we missed it. We should have been there.”

“It’s not your fault, dad. It’s not like you just took off for shits and giggles. You were murdered.” Still, Tony could understand the sense of failure his parents were dealing with. God knew Tony had often felt like that.

“I wasn’t really there even before that.”

That was true enough, though Tony didn’t want to hold grudges anymore. Howard had been a crappy father, yes, but not because he didn’t give a shit about Tony. And he’d been doing much better since the resurrection. What else could Tony ask for? It was impossible to change the past. Learning from one’s mistakes and trying to fix them was really the only thing one could do, and his father had been doing a pretty good job of that.

“You’re here now, dad,” he said, sitting up. “That’s good enough for me.” It was better than him just being gone forever.

“It all seems so much clearer now. What I should have done, what I should _do_. Why couldn’t I see it before?”

“Well, hindsight is 20/20, as the saying goes. I’ve certainly found that it’s only after things got to hell that you see the signs were there all along. No one is perfect. We do what we can and hope for the best.” That had been a hard lesson to learn, but necessary. Everything he’d done, every good and bad choice, had led him here, and he wouldn’t change it for anything.

Howard nodded absent-minded. “Yeah, I guess. I just… I wish it hadn’t taken all this” he gestured widely “for me to figure things out.”

“Better late than never, dad.” Though if not for freaky alien resurrection, it would have been never, and that was a very depressing thought.

“I’m really proud of you, Tony. I’m sorry I never told you before. I have _always_ been proud of you.”

It was ridiculous how good those words made him feel, Tony thought. Howard had said them before, back when he’d first arrived and they were trying to work things out between them, yet their impact had not diminished in the least. There was still that sense of wonder, pleasure and relief, a feeling of warmth that spread all over him because he was _good enough_. Because his dad thought he’d done well.

“Thanks, dad,” Tony said, trying to ignore how blurry his vision was.

Maria came in carrying a tray loaded with food. Howard stood to help her and Tony took the opportunity to discretely wipe his eyes. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of crying (not anymore, at least – therapy had been very helpful for that), but he didn’t want his mom to worry any more than she already did.

“Are you feeling better, honey?” Maria handed him a bowl of chicken soup. Tony had no idea where she’d gotten that from, but it was delicious so he wasn’t going to complain.

“I think so.”

They got a couple more trays and ended up having a sort of picnic on his bed, with food and light conversation. It was… nice. Domestic. It felt like they were a real family – which had not always been the case in the past.

Once the food was gone, Maria suggested Tony take a shower to freshen up. When he came back he felt quite invigorated and ready to get back to work.

Of course, that didn’t happen. His parents were still there and obviously didn’t think that was a good idea. Jarvis and Friday agreed that he was not recovered enough and no doubt had the workshop locked down just in case Tony got sneaky.

“Really, dad?” Tony asked as he plopped himself down on the couch in the living room. “You’re gonna lecture me on overworking?” He made sure to keep his tone light and teasing, though. He didn’t want a fight.

“Yes. Passing on some wisdom here, kid. You should listen to the voice of experience. Learn from my mistakes so you don’t repeat them.”

Tony laughed, though, in truth, it was probably a little too late for that.

“Why don’t we all watch a movie?” Maria proposed. “That way no one will be bored.” She clearly knew them well. “Any suggestions?”

Howard shrugged. Tony couldn’t think of anything at the moment and did the same.

“How about Wall-E?” Friday said. “It’s about an AI. It’s my favorite movie.”

“Sounds interesting,” Maria replied with a smile.

The last time Tony had watched Wall-E, the scene when Wall-E almost dies had made him hit the liquor cabinet in near panic, remembering Jarvis. It was still sad now, but it no longer induced an anxiety attack. Instead, he looked at the camera and grinned at his kids. In response, Jarvis sent a text to Tony’s watch-gauntlet. _We’re here, Sir. Always_.

Vision had joined them just as the movie had begun and after it was over he commented on what an odd story it was, given most popular culture’s attitude towards AIs.

“Well, it’s animation, not sci-fi, so it’s not ‘awful future dystopia’,” Tony said. “It’s ‘cute robots’ and not ‘killing machines’.”

“I like Wall-E,” Friday added. “He reminds me of Dum-E.”

Everyone laughed at that. “I think he’d appreciate the comparison.” Tony certainly did. His bot was just as lively and _alive_ as the little animated robot, not to mention cute. Plus, Dum-E had once saved his life by delivering the Arc Reactor at a critical moment (and fortunately Dum-E had not been in any danger at the time. If Stane had messed with his bot, that would have been even more hell to pay).

“Seems like it’s time to change that perception of AIs being evil,” Howard said.

“Yeah. I’m working on it, actually. I plan on making a statement about that when the Iron Legion is reactivated. The Accords Panel has already okayed it. Both Jarvis and Friday will be given the opportunity to sign the Accords and be official members of the Avengers.”

It would be good to give his kids that extra protection of being formally acknowledged as sentient beings like Vision. After Ultron, it would go a long way towards making the general public feel better about the idea of full-fledged AIs.

“That’s wonderful news,” Maria said with a smile. “I’m sure the two of you will do quite well.”

They talked a bit more about how to present Friday to the world (Jarvis would have the Legion) and Maria was of the opinion that Friday should have a body of her own.

“I offered that ages ago, she didn’t want it,” Tony told his mom. It had been kind of a throw away comment, though, and at a time when Friday had still been really young. Perhaps now would be a good time to revisit the idea.

“I don’t know that I’d want it full-time. It would be too confining,” Friday said. “But maybe sometimes. For special occasions or something. Perhaps something more… feminine… than the suits?”

“Of course, baby girl. Whatever you want.” Tony had once envisioned a suit for Pepper, but she’d refused it, saying she didn’t want to be a superhero. At the time, she might still have been a bit traumatized by the whole mess with Killian and had probably just wanted some peace and quiet instead of being dragged even further into the insanity of Tony’s life. That design might work for Friday, at least as a starting point.

He was half-way through schematics in his head when his mother’s voice brought him back to the present.

“You’re not doing anything about it right now, Tony. You are, in fact, going back to bed.”

“What? No, come on! I’m feeling much better. Good as new.”

It was a slight exaggeration of course, which his mom clearly saw through with no problem at all if the look she gave him was any indication.

“There’s no rush to it, Boss. I’d rather you were fully recovered before thinking about it.”

Tony’s assertions that he was okay went ignored by all. Jarvis, the traitor, decided to inform his parents about some of Tony’s less than stellar decisions regarding how ‘okay’ he had been on certain occasions, to which they reacted with horror and a great deal of admonishment.

“I bet you were no better,” Tony muttered in his father’s direction.

“And I was properly scolded for it, you should know. Now, off to bed with you.”

“I don’t want to go to bed!” _Wow, way to act like a child, Tony_ , he chastised himself. “Can’t we watch another movie? Please?” He turned his best puppy eyes on his parents, and after an exchange of looks, they agreed that one more movie wouldn’t hurt.

Friday chose another fun animation and they all settled in. There was laughter, silly comments and good-natured banter. Tony basked in the company of his family – his parents and his bot kids – in pure contentment, resting his head on his mom’s shoulder as his father debated the merits of computer versus hand-drawn animation with Jarvis.

Maybe being sick wasn’t so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might come up with other scenarios for this at some point, but for now I'm declaring it complete. Thanks for reading.


End file.
